Paul pleads for equal treatment with Fiorina in upcoming CNN debate

Rand Paul, looking for a way to avoid missing a spot in CNN's prime-time debate next week, wants rules changed to give him the same treatment as a woman.

The junior Kentucky senator's floundering bid for the Republican presidential nomination is poised for another setback.

Under rules CNN is using to decide which candidates are included in its prime time debate Tuesday, Paul looks likely to be relegated to the second-tier debate of hopefuls whose average poll numbers fall short 3.5 percent nationally or 4 percent in New Hampshire or Iowa.

Paul told Fox News Friday that he wants the same treatment as Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief who successfully protested exclusion from a top-tier CNN debate. She convinced the network allow her in by tweaking its polling rules.